Michelle with Paul – the man behind the face of “Chrome Magnon” (sold) at the Auburn Gallery on September 30th, 2017

After nearly a year of anticipation, the book launch is done and the exhibition is in its last week. (You can still see it at Auburn’s satellite location at the Shipyards at the waterfront in Gravenhurst until the 15th of October – Terry the curator says it’s the last exhibition for the year and some of the unsold paintings may stay up a bit longer.)

The book launch was a huge success. The U.S. release date is just around the corner with the listing now up on Amazon.com. The response has been so generous. I have more people to thank than I can count – many of which were mentioned in the acknowledgements. I have heard from many relatives of people I interviewed for the book and that is exciting for me to know these places live on in the blood of their builders.

The fourth generation of the Stephens’ family, and Elva’s great granddaughter, is a young art student. I can’t wait to see what she does! Every member I have met is so kind, so I am sure she will create work with heart.

In 8 weeks since the summer, I sold my house, moved across the country and did the launch and exhibition. I can’t believe I’m still standing! I plan to be a little quieter for the rest of the year, but I am hoping those of you who liked the book will review it on Amazon (US), Amazon.ca (Canada – there is one review as of today already!) and/or Goodreads and I hope that you will consider the book as a Christmas gift for those who love history, old buildings, ruins – and Muskoka.

I’ll be offering a very limited number of personalized signed copies for Christmas starting the end of October. I’ll post a PayPal button when they’re ready to go and let everybody know about it here.

Lastly, I just want to thank everyone who has bought a book or a painting and let you know your support is greatly appreciated! The thing I once imagined is now real because of you.

The book of stories, paintings and photos of a series of Muskoka historical and abandoned buildings launches September 30th at the Auburn Gallery in Gravenhurst. There will also be an exhibition of the last paintings from the series that will run until Thanksgiving.

Have you ever wondered about that old empty house or abandoned ruin? Who lived there and why did they leave? If the walls could talk, what would they say?

If only you could look inside…

Michelle Hendry takes you inside some fascinating houses, hotels and ruins from around the Muskoka region, many off limits to most of the world – private locations such as Sparrow Beach Lodge and Cooper’s Falls General Store. Gravenhurst is best known for it’s steamships, but in the late 1800’s it was the flashpoint for a very brief gold rush and the man who discovered the first nugget built a beautiful house that he would never live in.

The steep angle of the sun was deep gold in the late November afternoon. It was unseasonably warm. Wilted phlox frost bitten, but still green grew in the garden next to the front door. They were from Elva’s mother Belle’s, garden. They once grew near the vegetables, next to the ruined farmhouse now hidden from view.

Elva in front of the house in 1930. Courtesy of Jane Morgan

Seven and a half years ago, I sat in the kitchen of the plucky 89 year old Elva Stephens Bowes. I was amazed at how easily I was able to make an appointment to see her. When I arrived at the tiny house on the edge of the old Stephens fam, she invited me in right away and offered me coffee. The feeling was more of visiting an old friend. I suppose I began to understand how much Elva loved people when she told me that she invited the fed ex man over for coffee at the end of his route.

Only one of the paintings (“Yellow Door” – see the first post extra) from the Livingstone/Stephens house was completed at the time of our meeting and I showed her the photo since the painting had sold one month before at the McMichael Gallery Exhibition. She smiled and shared that it was the door to the room she shared with her sister.

Our conversation inspired the painting that is the cover of the book, “Waiting”. He grandfather, once a community reeve, moved in to the house with Elva and her parents. He had set up his chair in the bay window with a mirror rigged to reflect the driveway so he would never miss a visitor. I think I understand where Elva got her knack for entertaining.

Elva shared many stories, beyond the scope of the book. I made a point of visiting her again before she passed 18 months later. Her granddaughter told me shortly before she died about the clever ways she tried to escape the hospital. I’m guessing the society was less than adequate!

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On an interesting note, I met a gentleman on FaceBook in July whose distant relative owned the property where Livingstone, the man who built this house, found the gold in Gravenhurst. Mr. Smalley wasn’t in any of the documents I found and I didn’t know about him until Mike shared some old newspaper clippings. I plan to release a small booklet collecting the new info and extras I’ve collected since the manuscript went to press for those who purchase the book between the launch and Christmas and sign up for the newsletter.

This is the third in a series of extras on the making of the upcoming book, Once Imagined released in September.

The launch will be on September 30th along with the opening of the exhibition of the last paintings from this series at the Auburn Gallery in Gravenhurst. A book signing and meet and greet is set for 1pm! And the exhibition will run until Thanksgiving.

Not far from my old home in Gravenhurst, Ontario, a turn of the century house seemed to stick out amongst its 1960s and newer neighbours. It was abandoned for many years and I’d watch the porch roof slope a little further each winter, curious as to why this building seemed so out of place. I never asked anyone about it until a couple bought the house and set out to restore it. Connie, the new owner gave me permission to look through the building before they finished interior demolition. The result was this painting.

And then a casual conversation led to the answer I didn’t know I was seeking.

Gravenhurst was the location of the first Tuberculosis Sanitorium in Canada. Tuberculosis, also known as ‘consumption’, ravaged communities often unable to adequately treat its victims. Until the late 1940s and the development of streptomycin, treatments developed in the late 19th century created demand for places like the Muskoka Cottage Santorium, later the Muskoka Free Hospital, the Calydor Sanitorium and the Gage building.That demand was so high, many of the ill were turned away, and seeking other accommodations, some ended up in boarding houses. The prospect of sick people congregating in places around town terrified the citizens living so close to this devastating and often fatal disease.

During the first exhibition of the painting, there was some discussion of a rumour that this house was one of those boarding houses for consumptives. I was never able to confirm this with records, which is not surprising because either the boarding houses didn’t know their guests were sick, or they were taking them in secret, not wanting to alert their neighbours.

A few weeks ago, well after the manuscript had been submitted to the publisher, Connie reached out to me, so I asked her if she knew about the rumour. She said no, but what she told me next nearly made me jump out of my seat:

When they were tearing apart the walls of the old house she said they found an inordinate number of medicine bottles hidden behind the lathe and plaster.